The Scout Trout Way ![]() There have been a lot of decisions to make over the past month about the direction we are heading with Scout Trout. Since the inception of the Scout Trout Pipeline program, I have been vigorously asked to turn into a non-profit cooperation. If you really know me, I am extremely nice to everyone I meet for the first time and I value being respectful to ALL walks of life. I do not take my life for gran-tit as no matter what we accomplish, there always seems like bigger obstacles to overcome. We were recently almost bought out by some big time people. I really never thought I could turn down such a large amount of cash in my life. When offered by we will say Bobby Boucher, I looked back at where I came from and how I built this through pain and torment, after the worst concussion of my life. I looked at all the young men that are now some of my best friends and who I am beginning to see myself in, which can scare you a little bit. I realized these kids from broken homes who are abused, tormented, homeless, malnourished and mentally not alright are in need of a "ESCAPE Plan". I myself have felt like running and escaping situations at a young age and found a way to do it constructively, while facing your own problems head on, simply by re-locating. Some people will say you can't run from your problems, well I have learned the grass can be much greener on the other side if you take the proper steps to give it LOVE! I have learned through my career that nothing can trump Love, kindness, humility, passion, grace, mercy, and the most importantly HUNGER! I have so many people to still prove wrong that I became a blood-thirsty animal, who sought out revenge on these individuals, who set out to solely remove me from this earth/game. I have learned that there is NO program like the one we have built and it includes pretty much anyone that desires to better themselves through the game of football and give back! By giving back myself I have gotten to experience a lot of great things in the world and I have gotten to bring happiness to households that had very little hope. I was told you can't be a good person all the time in this business and I have been also told I am pretty cut-throat, when it comes to how I expect things done. There is a reason for this mentality, see some of us have been around (Even thou I am 30) some of the oldest and wisest in our game. Some of us studied tendencies instead of play calling and read emotions, interactions and charisma instead. The best in the game ALL do it a certain way and they all have one thing in common, THEY ARE WINNERS! How we fall under non-ProfitAccording to BoardSource, the United States is home to more than 1.6 million nonprofit organizations. Nonprofits provide a variety of services to the public, including feeding the homeless, tutoring children and providing scholarships. Public charities, foundations, social advocacy groups and trade organizations are common types of nonprofit organizations. Social IssuesMany nonprofits are established as social advocacy organizations. These are mostly membership organizations that form to advance a specific set of beliefs or to reach specific goals. The National Organization for Women and Greenpeace are examples of social advocacy nonprofits. Social advocacy nonprofits like these use donations and membership dues to disseminate information and advocate social change according to their mission statements. ![]() Here is a very broad description of how non-profits operate and now I am going to list the amazing programs we are going to incorporate in our Not for Profit Organization. I want to start with the numerous social issues that I have encountered in my first go around with Class of 2017, where now 98% of our players have signed to play College Football. As you know, we run mini camps all over the USA, notably the Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Some of my camps I have had athlete's show up without proper foot ware and/or no shoes at all. I actually had a kid run a 4.4 flat barefoot after he did not fit in one of the pairs I brought. These same kids are also not even getting two daily meals a day and some were even out on the street, because of more severe social issues. These same kids with a shove in the right direction are the next stars of tomorrow if given a fighting chance. These situations will ALWAYS come first in our mission, because without quality of life, we cannot perform to our full potential. Unfortunately, I have been on both sides of this fence myself and I started to learn how to pray without ceasing. The more I prayed the more my head began to clear and I could make clear and concise choices, that ultimately would lead me to serving others, while being completely content with my life. I am very fortunate to be bringing the Colorado Social Worker of The Year on our board of directors, to assist us in these vital decisions for our Elite Student-Athletes! Thank you Tricia VanHorssen for your continued dedication to our Student-Athletes! Tutoring ACT/SAT Prep Program![]() Many others have expressed their respective opinions on me launching a full-fledged SAT/ACT nationwide program. With going non-profit, they are able to fully fund our educational programs and we can make sure all of our players meet the minimum requirements that the NCAA has set in place. I have the best tutors/teachers, who we will have available online and in classroom atmosphere, to assist our Student-Athlete's in achieving proper eligibility. I had about 12 players who did not meet the academic requirements and have to attend Junior College programs. These young men are all brilliant in their own right and a test surely does not properly evaluate whether our guys can be functioning Students in College. I believe if we properly were able to teach them the different testing strategies and clear their minds of distractions, they all would be qualified and on scholarship, at a four year institution. We will also offer tutoring in any subject that they are struggling with and get to the real root of the issue. Sometimes its as simple as eating breakfast and a cup of coffee to get these young brains firing. Then you have situations where the teacher clearly does not like the star athlete. This is a situation I found myself in time and time again, why? Because some people think we are playing a barbaric mid-evil game and were pretty much stupid. They obviously failed to realize the amazing things we learn from our game, but that's another subject. Haters are not just your peers, I had a Catholic Priest belittle me everyday in High School for being a prime time athlete, I just decided to keep breaking records and sliding the newspaper under his office door. We choose our destination, not them! You have control of your reactions, your actions, your drive, your motivation and YOUR EFFORT! Not the guy who wants to know all the bad stuff you done in a booth. In short, this program is the ultimate game changer for our student-athletes and will clear up many eligibility issues. One question I received was, Don't they have this program in school's already? My reply is yes, but just like every profession, there is always bad apples that play favorites or simply are hating on the Star player. The fact that College Football players are going to be paid this year and get a free education is only going to make people who don't understand life, hate us more. I have also learned that these programs all cost money in most places and my athlete's simply don't have the means to enroll in such a program. All in all, Our program will always be catered towards the ultimate success of each individual athlete and their respective goals. Scholarship FoundationFoundations sponsor numerous programs and events in the community and they often fund other nonprofits. Foundations can be established through a family, a community group or through a business. BoardSource reports that more than 100,000 foundations operate in the United States. Private foundations form to distribute funding to public charities. Corporate foundations give grants to other nonprofits on behalf of a corporation. Community foundations fund nonprofits in a specific region or city. This foundation provides scholarships for our student-athletes to attend school's like the IMG Academy and/or Prep School. I got the pleasure to attend Hargrave Military Academy and play with some of the best players in the Country at the time. We had 40 some odd players sign to play in Division one football and it was very costly, so my father sold a Pitt Bowl ring to help cover my self-made scholarship. To this day that still hurts, even thou he does not care about a ring, nor any materialistic items. This basically is your opportunity to help a young man who we believe demonstrates ULTIMATE character and has fine athletic abilities. If one of my Athletes Stephen Gaines could have played anywhere else, but the 0-10 Wichita Falls Coyotes, things would have been much different. But as losing programs do, they attempted to discredit me and Mr. Gaines abilities, who reminds me of a young Herchel Walker. There are many other reasons for our scholarship foundation, but ultimately this will help cover the remaining balances and bye books for class. These scholarships will also help with the cost of our Mini-Camps, staffing, facility rentals and insurance. Scout Trout UniversityAccording to the Society for Nonprofit Organizations, professional and trade organizations form to provide programs and services for a group of people in the same profession. The National Writers Union and the International Association of Meeting Planners would fall into this category. Although members pay dues to join these nonprofits, they also receive free and discounted classes and career training in their chosen fields. ![]() When you enroll in my University you become part of the solution and not part of the problem. What I mean by this is our scouting system is severely top loaded and broken with half of the College Football recruits coming from four states in GA/CA/TX/FL. The rest of the USA has the same number of recruits in all 46 states, which to me does not add up properly after evaluating every states players. This is for several reasons and #1 is the recruiting budgets that are strictly enforced, that does not allow a coach to go outside a certain area. It is impossible for any school to properly scan over the entire crop of High School football players in today's game. After completion of our 3-4 week course and/or signing up 5 athlete's for our program, you can either set up your own scouting division and your recruiting budget will be vast. This knowledge could land you in a real recruiting job and or scouting job at the College/Pro levels. If bettering our youth's futures and our world/sport as a whole, then this University is for you. We are now attached to 100% results for Class of 2017 and I am not just talking scholarships. When a problem arises we learn how to first take care of our athlete and then secondly we fix the issue in a productive manner, that keeps us ALL on the right path to freedom and success. Thank you for all of those who have already joined our mission and I will be announcing our entire Board of Directors here in the next few days. If you would like to be on the board in some capacity contact me @merfdigg@aol.com. Be apart of the Solution![]() We have made major headway on where we intend to bring the "Pipeline Program" to and are succeeding in many ways. I am extremely please with my team of coaches/scouts/mentors and my players parents. You all have a chance to be apart of this in anyway you so choose, as I am thankful for each and everyone of you, because without your love for your child, this would never have been possible. Know that I worked to wits end sometimes to make your child's dream a reality. Also know I will continue to work on behalf of your Student-Athlete with anything you need. Going by the numbers not everyone is going to make the right choice the first time around. I will be there is you need to transfer and have all of the transfer rules embedded in my Compliance Officer side of the brain. The system is becoming more set up for the athlete, as College Football players now will receive compensation for their respective play. There is still a lot of work to be done on all of our parts to ensure the integrity of our nation and beloved game that has instilled these amazing values inside of us. I also choose Jesus daily in my personal life and he has not led me astray yet. Have I been led astray a few times? Of Course, but all in all, there is nothing like his sacrifice on the cross for my salvation. You all mean the world to me and I cannot thank everyone again for the loyalty, encouragement and dedication to our student-athletes and the PIPELINE PROJECT, which has now evolved into something very special. |
NEWSCFB NEWSBreaking football scouting & recruiting news Categories
All
Archives
December 2022
|
Scout |
Recruit |
|